Altered Ego
by chris'cut
Summary: When your favorite chat buddy turns out to be the person you can't stand the most, will you abandon him completely or give the real him a chance for the sake of his alter ego? A Murata x Wolfram x Yuuri AU fan fiction.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Kyou Kara Maoh!_ or any of its characters. I do not make money from these writings.

**Beta-reader**: XEOHE

**Warnings**: yaoi (male x male), coarse language, AU (Alternate Universe), and OOC (Out of Character).

**A/N**: Special thanks to XEOHE for agreeing to beta read this fan fiction. Her KKM fics are amazing and I'm honored to have her look over ALTERed EGO.

This work is especially dedicated to all those who participated in the author's poll. I wish you will find entertainment in this light, easy read, AU fan fiction.

Love it, hate it, or deem this fan fiction anywhere in between—I wouldn't mind. I just hope you all have a good laugh.

Finally, to my favorite fan fiction author—who has nothing to do with this fic, does not want to have anything to do with this fic, and will never read beyond these words of dedication: Our constant bantering and chat are priceless. My alter ego is sure pleased to have met yours.

**ALTERed EGO ****– Part One**

**By chris'cut**

Upon seeing '_DGR81 is now online'_ pop up from the corner of the monitor, the sixteen-year-old blond switched from invisible mode to available status. Green eyes gleamed in happy anticipation as he waited for his chat buddy to notice him.

In just a few seconds, a message from DGR81 popped on the screen that said, '_Hi!'_

Under his username 4tun8, the blond typed, _'Hey! Just got back from school. You?'_

'_Been home for a while. Any calculus problems I can help you with today?' _

'_Nope. They gave us easy equations earlier—I was even able to help out my wimpy Yuuri.'_

'_I see. Any progress with him?' _asked DGR81.

'_Nada. He says he's not into men, but believe me, I know he is soooo GAY,'_ wrote 4tun8.

'_ROFL! Why is that? Didn't you say he gets all flustered and googoo-eyed whenever he sees that girl in your class?'_ reminded DGR81.

Grinning behind the monitor, the green-eyed boy replied, _'Yeah, BUT, last week I saw him getting a hard on while looking at the two naked guys wrestling in the showers after soccer. He tried to hide it from me but it was too late—I saw it pointing proud and tall. Hah!'_

'_Mhmm…. And you? Did you find the wrestling men stimulating as well?' _teased DGR81.

Snorting in his seat, the blond's fingers punched the keys with more force and wrote back, _'Of course not! I'm very selective, FYI.'_

'_Hmmm…. Is this Yuuri that impressive looking that a picky person like you is head over heels in love with him?'_ DGR81 asked.

After a brief pause, 4tun8's message read, _'To me he is. But maybe you're right in what you said before; maybe I do like him more coz' he keeps brushing me off—like a real challenge.' _

'_Ah, right! I remember you mentioning a few times how gorgeous you are.'_

The blond typed his defense quickly. '_Hey! I never said that! You make me sound conceited.'_

'_OK, you never said it outright but you did hint several times._'

The sixteen-year-old patiently waited behind the monitor for his chat buddy to finish with his explanation.

'_Like when you said several kids from your class kept teasing you as Goldilocks, then after you got into the habit of sleeping in classes, they changed your nickname to Sleeping Beauty._

'_And there was also the time when several guys ganged up on you, tied you up, dragged you into the men's room and almost dunked your head in the toilet. Then this Yuuri guy and his friend rescued you with the help of baseball bats,' _explained DGR81 over their chat.

'_Arghhh! Don't remind me.... Hey, how could those incidents suggest how I look?'_

'_First, Goldilocks and Sleeping Beauty aren't ugly; and second, I automatically presumed that the bullies were annoyed with your looks—you did mention that day that you were wearing the Gucci getup your brother Conrard had given you as a birthday present,' _DGR81 reasoned out.

'_You know, your reasoning right now…. It reminds me of Yuuri's geeky friend; he almost said the same thing,'_ the blond commented.

After a long pause, DGR81 clarified, _'This Murata guy, you mean? Is he that nerdy looking?'_

The boy then replied, _'Yup! He makes my skin crawl whenever he makes a move on me.'_

When there was no response from DGR81, he added, _'That four-eyed pervert is so thick-skinned that he can't sense how much I can't stand his company.'_

'_Last message received on 5/23 at 17:33.'_

Wolfram von Bielefeld glanced at his wrist watch which said it was six o'clock. He shifted his gaze once more at the monitor. DGR81 was still online—on idle status, however. He thought his chat buddy, as well as favorite fan fiction author, was having dinner and so he decided to log off as well. He went downstairs and found Yuuri Shibuya—his roommate and housemate—sprawled along the length of the sofa, with the remote barely in his right hand, touching the floor. The guy had fallen asleep.

"Yuuri!" Wolfram tugged at the other sixteen-year-old's black hair. "Yuuri!"

When no response came, he grabbed a handful of thick strands and yanked harder.

"Ouch!" Black orbs glared at wide, innocent green eyes looking down at him. "You son of a—"

"Hey, watch your words!" Wolfram snapped. As an afterthought, he added, "There might be some truth in them but Miko-san will surely be disappointed to hear her son cursing at other people's mothers."

Yuuri, massaging his scalp, said, "Why can't you wake me up the normal way? You can shake my shoulders or slap my cheek, instead of pulling my hair out, tickling my feet, or pinching my nostrils until I can't breathe!"

Ignoring his grumpy friend, Wolfram said, "I'm hungry."

"Then order something or go out and buy some food! What do you take me for—your servant?"

"Should I call home and inform Gwendal how you are starving me here in Tokyo?"

Muttering curses under his breath, Yuuri stretched his arms and sluggishly got out of the sofa. He trudged to the kitchen and pulled out a container from the fridge.

"Here, help yourself," he said, throwing the white ceramic on the kitchen counter. "Don't you have any microwave ovens in Switzerland?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that Mother said the radiation's bad for me?"

Yuuri breathed in deeply to control himself from flinging the container at the blond's empty head. After removing the lid, he placed the ceramic inside the microwave. He pushed the buttons, set them to three minutes and stood in front of the glass, just mere inches away, saying over his shoulders, "Watch, I've been doing this almost every freaking day since you've arrived here a year ago. I've gained three kilos and am now two inches taller than you. I suppose I'm not disintegrating yet from all this radiation you speak of, am I?"

Wolfram turned his head sideways and quipped, "Dunno.... Maybe it's affected your insides already, or even your brain."

Exasperation was clearly etched on Yuuri's face but before he could say anything, Wolfram was already by the cupboards, mumbling, "I would stop doing that if I were you. Just get out of the way once you start that unhealthy way of cooking."

Yuuri could only watch the young man set the table in silence. The blond was a real spoiled brat in his opinion. Wolfram von Bielefeld was the son of his brother's boss's cousin—Cecilie von Spitzweg. His father had never married Cecilie, and thus, Wolfram was not a legitimate son of the heir to a German industrial conglomerate. Nonetheless, his lifestyle prior to living in Tokyo was no less than that of royalty. Wolfram had two older brothers from his mother's side, but neither of them was willing to discipline him.

A year ago, Yuuri's brother's boss, Bob, suggested that he lived with a normal family for at least two years before entering a university in Europe. In return, Yuuri Shibuya's school expenses, and the entire Shibuyas' expenses for that matter, would all be provided for by the von Bielefeld family. The first year was really pleasant, but that was before Miko and Shoma Shibuya, Yuuri's parents, decided to live indefinitely in Switzerland with his older brother Shori.

He used to wonder why his parents chose to live with Shori who already had a great career, rather than stay with him—a struggling twelfth grader. Then, a month ago when school just started, while he was talking to his brother on his mobile phone, he overheard his mom asking Shori if Wolfram had already learned to fend for himself. Apparently, leaving the two of them on their own was part of the plan to make Wolfram independent.

At the beeping sound, Yuuri snapped out of his miserable musing and took the white container out of the microwave oven.

While waiting for his turn to get some of Yuuri's tuna-pesto-macaroni-and-cheese specialty, Wolfram studied his dinner companion's every movement.

"Will you please quit staring? It's really rude—and annoying."

"Grouch," Wolfram muttered while loading his plate.

"You should learn how to cook more than those bacon and eggs in the morning."

"Why should I? I love bacon and eggs."

"Man, I wonder how you managed to pass everything in school. Could it be your mother pays triple the tuition?" Yuuri remarked as he chewed on his meal.

"Hey, don't underestimate the schools I've been to."

"Maybe you should stop reading all those fanfics on the internet. I think the size of your grey matter has diminished noticeably."

"I only read DGR81's fictions. His stories are all well written with a great sense of humor—as expected from a mature math professor. Mother said reading stimulates the brain."

Snorting, Yuuri commented, "Math professor my ass! I wonder if Cecilie knows you're reading about mansex on the rated eighteen and above website."

"And how did you know that?"

Yuuri replied with a smirk, "Ever since you've started using my computer, you've neither cleaned all the pages you've saved on my desktop nor cleared the history of the sites you've visited."

"I see," Wolfram teased. He put his fork down and clasped his fingers together under his chin. "So did you find DGR81's fanfic entertaining?"

"It was loads of crap. Boys loving boys and having sex is gross. By the way, why do you insist on using my computer when you've got a widescreen laptop?"

"Because I hate laptop keyboards. And oh, the mansex was in chapter eight—you must have enjoyed it a lot to have reached that far."

Flustered, Yuuri stood up from his chair to get a drink from the fridge. "Didn't it ever occur to you that I might have clicked on that one chapter by chance—you've left tons of shit lying on my desktop."

"Nah-uh." Wolfram shook his head. "I've never, ever saved that rated eighteen chapter because I was afraid you'd find out and tell my mother. You must have looked it up yourself."

"Oh please." Yuuri gulped his drink down and headed for the shower room on the second floor.

"I cooked so you do the dishes!" Wolfram heard Yuuri holler from upstairs. He shrugged and loaded the empty plates on the dishwasher. He couldn't wait to get online again and maybe catch DGR81 before midnight.

OooooooooO

"Wolfram! Shibuya!" a voice shouted from behind the two teenagers walking briskly along the school's corridor.

"I'm going to be late," were Wolfram's last words before he turned left and dashed towards the lockers.

Yuuri sighed, sensing Wolfram's avoidance for his best friend, Ken Murata.

"We're in the same class that starts in half an hour, you moron," Yuuri muttered.

"Yo! Shibuya!" Murata called out breathlessly, hands on his knees, panting. Through his black-rimmed spectacles, he saw his longtime friend approaching him. "I've been calling you guys from the school entrance. Eh? Where is Blondie?"

"Gone," Yuuri replied, patting Murata's back. "Sorry, buddy, but whatever it was he asked from you this time, I highly advise you not to give it to him. He needs to learn some manners as well as the word 'gratitude'."

Murata, still trying to catch his breath, reached into his backpack and pulled out Wolfram's famous Louis Vuitton leather filofax where he kept his abstract doodles and notes—notes that Murata had been filling out for him. "I'll try to catch him in the locker room."

Yuuri snatched the LV filofax and flipped through the last entry. "So now you're even doing his math homework. Unbelievable!"

"He promised he'd treat me to the movies this weekend," Murata said, grabbing the organizer back from Yuuri.

"You know he'll just give you tickets, he won't actually go with you," Yuuri reminded his friend who had been obsessed with Wolfram since they were introduced.

"Wanna bet?" Murata grinned mischievously.

"Sure. What's in it for me?"

"If he agrees to see the movie with me, you have to promise that no matter how hard he insists, you won't come along. If he just leaves the tickets with me, you win the bet, and I'll be your slave for a week—I'll clean, cook, and do the dishes at your house."

Yuuri shook his head at his friend—win or lose, Murata aimed at spending some time with Wolfram. "Wow! You really have some issues. Fine, the deal is on."

OooooooooO

'_Hi!'_ was the message that popped up from DGR81.

'_Hey! I waited for you to go back online last night. Did you sleep early?'_ 4tun8 greeted.

'_Nah. I went back to writing my fifteenth chapter,'_ replied DGR81.

'_Really?! That's great! Anything exciting to expect?' _was the eager response of the blond.

'_The much anticipated reunion of stepbrother and Cali will be happening,'_ DGR81 wrote back.

Green eyes widened behind the screen as he typed, _'Who will Cali choose to be with, his lover or his stepbrother?'_

'_Not telling. It will spoil all the suspense.'_

Snorting, Wolfram punched the keys emphatically. _'Then you shouldn't have bothered telling me anything. I hate cliffhangers!'_

'_Then don't ask any more questions. I can't warn you in advance which ones I'm willing to supply with answers,'_ was the advice of DGR81.

As expected, the response from 4tun8 was a mere, _'Whatever....'_

Changing the topic, DGR81 typed, _'BTW, there's a new movie showing in theaters: I love You, Crazy Lou. Have you seen it?'_

Grinning at the most welcome coincidence, Wolfram wrote back, _'Nope. But funny you mentioned that, my wimp's best friend invited me to that same movie.'_

'_He asked you to the movies?'_

'_Yup! Told you he hasn't given up,' _lied Wolfram.

'_Are you going to see it with him then?'_ DGR81 asked.

'_Maybe….. Have you seen it? Is it any good?'_

'_Not yet, but my cousin who's visiting wants to see it so I'm sorta obliged to keep him company.'_

Wolfram quickly typed his follow-up question. _'Which day will you go? Friday? Saturday?'_

'_Let me see. Give me a sec to look up the reservation he has made.'_

Pouting behind the monitor, Wolfram wrote, _'That four-eyed freak gave me tickets for Friday, at five in the afternoon.'_

'_Oh, too bad then. I was hoping we could meet up,'_ remarked DGR81.

'_Really? I'd love that,'_ Wolfram eagerly typed back.

'_Our reservations are for Saturday, seven thirty in the evening,'_ DGR81 informed his chat buddy.

'_Murata will do anything for me, I'm sure he can change the ticket date,'_ Wolfram wrote, twisting the truth behind the movie deal.

'_Murata? Ah, the friend of Yuuri. Hmmm…. I doubt you'll be able to do that. The seats are quite full. This weekend is the premiere of that movie.'_

'_Don't worry, I'll let you know tomorrow if he's able to change it or not,'_ 4tun8 wrote back confidently.

'_OK. Listen, I have to go now and prepare for my lesson plan for tomorrow. Catch you later,'_ was the last message from DGR81.

Wolfram wrote back, _'Bye, and hope to finally see you soon!'_

Wolfram spent the next few minutes simply staring at the screen until the message '_DGR81 is now offline'_ popped up. He then logged into the ticket reservations website and tried to change the date and time of his ticket reservation. Fortunately, there were five seats left. He purchased two with seats side by side and a third one further away. He intended for him and Yuuri to use the two seats beside each other, and give Murata the third. If Murata asked for two tickets, then he would give him the two and just keep one for himself. He decided that Yuuri didn't really have to come along since he intended to meet up with DGR81 and the wimp might only get in his way—though, he really wished he could see this movie with Yuuri since they hadn't seen any together for some time; the first and last time was a year ago with the entire Shibuya family.

OooooooooO

Wolfram fidgeted in his seat. From time to time, he glanced over the 'M' row, which was the third row behind his 'J' seat. DGR81 had informed him the previous night that his and his cousin's seat assignments were at the 'M' row. There were only a few seats left unoccupied and there was still no blond within Wolfram's sight—DGR81 mentioned that he had recently dyed his hair blond. After chatting almost daily for six months, Wolfram was finally going to meet DGR81 in person—and he could hardly wait until the movie was over so they could grab cold drinks and delicatessen at the coffee shop outside the theaters, as planned.

"Are you uncomfortable, Wolfram?"

A concerned Murata disrupted Wolfram's elated spirits. He suddenly remembered he was not alone and happened to be stuck for the next two hours beside the man he wanted to be farthest away from.

Earlier, outside the cinema, there was a big group of young professionals who demanded for an extra seat, having miscounted their total number upon making reservations. Much to Wolfram's surprise and dismay, while he was buying nachos and soda, Murata had offered his ticket to the group at twice the price—it was the third and extra ticket situated at a distance from the two other seats side by side that Wolfram had purchased for Murata. Since he owed Murata numerous homework and notes, Wolfram was left with no other option but to give him the seat next to his—but not before an embarrassing confrontation which included calling the bespectacled man filthy names amidst hundreds of stunned moviegoers.

"If you would just ignore me for the entire duration of this film, I'd be just fine," Wolfram muttered as he slumped back into his seat.

A few minutes into the movie, Wolfram turned around once more and found the entire 'M' row completely occupied. There was not a single blond in sight. The closest he suspected to be DGR81 was a man in his early twenties who was sitting between two other men. He then came up with an idea to find out if he was indeed DGR81. Dipping into his jean pocket, he reached for his mobile phone and sent an SMS to DGR81—the man was always on SMS status whenever he was offline. He asked his chat buddy if he was currently watching the movie at the 'M' row and if he was the one sitting between a pudgy teenager and a bearded man.

A few seconds after hitting the send key, Wolfram resent the message a few more times, just in case there was signal interference and his first SMS was not successfully transmitted. From the corner of his eye, he sensed Murata's hand moving in an irregular jolting motion. Wolfram's attention was caught by the popcorn that jiggled atop Murata's khaki jacket—and the owner's hand was underneath.

"Oh my goodness!" Wolfram hissed. "Don't jerk off here."

Murata only grinned in response. He then removed his right hand—from where Wolfram was almost certain was his crotch—and grabbed a handful of popcorn which shortly disappeared into his mouth.

Chewing, Murata offered, "You want some?"

Open-mouthed, Wolfram briefly stared at the bucket of popcorn underneath his nose before slumping back into his seat. He couldn't believe that the man was offering him something he had touched his filthy hands with.

"Everyone needs bacteria in their body once in a while," Murata remarked as if reading the blond's mind.

"I had yogurt with strawberries before I left the house—that should be enough dose of bacteria for the day," Wolfram quipped.

"How come Yuuri's not with us?" Murata asked, changing the topic.

"Cause I didn't invite him. Hush! I'm missing out on their conversation," Wolfram grumbled, staring at the widescreen and hoping for Murata to return to being nonexistent.

"Hey, you want some soda? I'm going to get another one," Murata offered. Wolfram nodded eagerly, wanting nothing more than to get rid of the man even for just a few minutes.

When Murata had not moved from his seat, Wolfram asked, "What are you waiting for?"

"Ah, I see, you want me to treat you, right? Sure, I can do that," Murata replied, chuckling. He got out of his chair, patted Wolfram firmly on the back and added, "After all, this is our first date."

Wolfram only glared at him from beneath his lashes. His annoyance drifted away as he wondered why DGR81 had not replied. He sent another SMS and as soon as he hit the send button, he looked behind him and waited for anyone to start reaching for their phones. To his disappointment, everyone seemed to be engrossed with the movie.

When Murata returned to his side, Wolfram took the can of soda and muttered a barely audible thanks. Just when the movie was about to end, he felt his phone vibrating. He quickly opened his message inbox and found a text from DGR81 which said: _Yes, I am watching the movie. I can't seem to find any blond in the 'J' row, are you at cinema 2?_

"Fuck!"

All heads turned around to the direction of the loudly spoken vulgar word which echoed in the cinema. Wolfram slipped lower into his seat as he met countless reproachful glares his way.

"What happened?" Murata asked in a hushed voice.

Ignoring his companion, Wolfram sent a reply to DGR81. '_I'm at cinema 3. We could still meet outside after the movie.'_

It took a while before he received another message from DGR81—when the credits were already rolling up the screen, to be exact. This time, it said_, 'As previously agreed upon, let's meet at the new coffee shop outside, by the entrance. Bring your friend along, maybe he can entertain my cousin. See you later!_'

OooooooooO

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Kyou Kara Maoh!_ or any of its characters. I do not make money from these writings.

**Beta-reader**: XEOHE

**Warnings**: yaoi (malexmale), coarse language, AU (Alternate Universe), and OOC (Out of Character).

**A/N**: Special thanks to XEOHE for agreeing to beta read this fan fiction. Her KKM fics are amazing and I'm honored to have her look over ALTERed EGO.

Thank you for the reviews and alerts. I hope you will enjoy this chapter as well.

**ALTERed EGO ****– Part Two**

**By chris'cut**

Murata silently observed the blond who had completely ignored him during three cups of iced mocha and a grilled bacon-lettuce-tomato-chicken sandwich. The tight-lipped boy was now slumped on their table at the coffee shop across the cinemas, muttering endless complaints.

"Brain freeze?" Murata asked Wolfram who was now vigorously rubbing his temples.

Through lowered lashes, green eyes glowered at him.

"Ah, right, sorry.... I forgot that I should pretend to be nonexistent," the bespectacled man replied, chuckling. "But hey, shouldn't we head home now? It's already half past ten. Besides, you don't seem to have any coat with you and the forecast said to expect a downpour ton—"

Murata's voice drifted when Wolfram abruptly sat upright on his seat as a young man with bleached hair entered the coffee shop. His eyes followed the man like a hawk. Seeing the man approaching their table, the corners of the blond's mouth turned upwards and beamed at the stranger. After a brief nod, the man grinned back at Wolfram, it seemed.

Wolfram's smile was quickly replaced with a scowl when the man walked past them and stopped at the table behind them, occupied by two ladies and another young man.

"You're late!" one of the females reproached.

"Hi Kaguma! Did you get caught in traffic?" the other male in the group said.

Wolfram didn't need to listen any further; he knew the man was not DGR81. Exhaling loudly, he reached for his phone and sent another SMS to his chat buddy who suggested meeting up with him.

"What is the name of the guy we're—you're waiting for?" Murata asked, quickly correcting himself.

"Dunno, I never asked," Wolfram mumbled, thumbing the keys on his phone impatiently. He had sent DGR81 at least a dozen SMS messages but had not received a single reply. After hitting the send button, he slipped the phone back into his jean pocket and crossed his arms with a smug look on his face.

"You seem very pleased. May I ask what you told him?" Murata pried.

"He'll have to come for sure now," Wolfram began to say. "I told him I would wait for him even if I end up staying here until morning."

"You can't be serious," Murata remarked. "How do you intend to go home after the train station has closed?"

"If you're so worried, then leave," Wolfram snapped. "I can look after myself. Let me remind you that I already treated you to the movies as promised; having you as my companion was not part of the deal."

After a long awkward silence, Murata sighed in resignation—he knew how stubborn Wolfram was.

"I feel that I should stay here with you," he said. "This town may be safe but not for people who stick out like a goldmine for kidnappers. Besides, it'll be fun to talk all night with you."

Wolfram sneered rather scornfully at Murata. "Fun? Why, that's absolute torture for me! We have nothing to discuss, so just go—go away, _please_."

"We can talk about your friend, this DGR81 that you're waiting for," Murata suggested, ignoring the blond's attempt to get rid of him.

"How did you know his penname? And who told you I was waiting for him?" demanded Wolfram.

"Shibuya told me," Murata replied casually.

"How the heck did he know?" Wolfram wondered out loud, his tone raising a notch.

After clearing his throat, Murata calmly supplied the riled blond with an explanation. "Before you interrupt me, let me finish what I have to say, alright?"

With a brief nod from Wolfram, Murata proceeded. "Shibuya has always been a neat freak and minds a great deal when his stuff gets disorganized, including files on his PC. A few months ago, he told me how messed up his desktop had become and that there were loads of downloaded items on it. He wanted to organize them into folders and ended up reading them in order to figure out which belonged together. So he told me about your fascination with _those_ kinds of stories and a certain author—DGR81."

"That's nothing new; I already know he's read some chapters," Wolfram said nonchalantly, pretending to feel indifferent about reading yaoi fan fictions. "What I want to know is how he found out I was meeting up with DGR81."

"Well," Murata hesitated before revealing, "he said you were still online when you left his computer and he accidentally read your chat with DGR81."

Wolfram then screeched, "Why, that nosy, snoopy son of a—" he stopped upon noticing several heads turned his way at his high-pitched voice. Though he hardly cared about what others thought of him, he knew very well how his mother felt about cursing other people's mothers.

"—bastard!" he mouthed to Murata who grinned at him.

"Tell me, why do you want to meet him so badly?" the black-haired boy asked the blond who was still fuming over Yuuri's meddling.

"That's none of your business," muttered Wolfram, leaning against the chair with arms crossed over his chest.

After pursing his lips in thought, the blond blurted out, "Yuuri sure has a thing for me, admit it."

"Eh?" was the surprised response from Murata.

"The fact that he read through my personal correspondence is proof enough," Wolfram said smugly.

When the bespectacled man did not reply, Wolfram leaned across the table and pried, "You're his best friend so you know him better. I am right in saying he finds me attractive despite his actions, am I not?"

Moving closer to the center of the table as well, Murata teasingly admitted, "I know _I_ do. You truly are irresistible." He then moistened his lips playfully.

Wolfram found himself staring at the reflections from the black-rimmed spectacles mere inches away from his face. Upon realizing how close they were, Wolfram roughly bumped his forehead against Murata's and snapped, "Ugggh! You cheesy pervert! This is why I don't enjoy having conversations with you. You always try to take advantage."

Fixing his glasses that had gone askew, Murata quipped, "You seemed to be asking for it—the compliment, I meant."

Rubbing his forehead, Wolfram sighed in agitation. For the past four hours, he had been with the one person he couldn't stand the most while waiting for his favorite chat buddy. When his thoughts returned to DGR81, he glanced at his phone and found no messages, eliciting another heavy sigh from him. From where he sat, he peered through the expansive glass window of the coffee shop. He couldn't spot any bleached blond among the crowd of people strolling the streets.

"The train station will close soon, we better leave, Wolfram," Murata reminded his stubborn companion.

With eyes fixed outside, roaming over the passersby, Wolfram mumbled, "Just leave.... Leave me alone."

From the reflection on the window, Wolfram saw Murata stand up and place a few notes on the table. He could not believe the boy was seriously leaving him behind. Unwilling to give Murata the satisfaction that it was indeed time to hit the road, he feigned indifference even after hearing him say, "See you at school on Monday."

Shortly, Murata's overgrown wavy hair and khaki jacket came into Wolfram's view. From the outside, the black-haired boy then looked his way, grinned, and waved enthusiastically at him. Wolfram only stared and watched the boy's receding back, dumbfounded that Murata had actually left him all alone.

It was eleven o'clock. He could wait for DGR81 half an hour longer and still make it to the train station before it closed. Another option was to take a cab. But his brother Gwendal had said that in some countries cab drivers were reckless at night, ignored speed limits, and sometimes took advantage of foreign-looking passengers who didn't have a clue on where they were going. Tokyo seemed to be a safe place where everyone displayed utmost discipline, but still, Wolfram knew he was gullible—and he looked it.

Startled at the flash of lightning that suddenly marked the starless sky, Wolfram backed out from the glass window. A low rumbling of thunder followed which added to his growing anxiety. Before he could even decide whether he should let the rain pass or leave before it began, a heavy shower washed the streets before him. He watched the people caught off guard by the rainstorm disperse in all directions as they sought for the nearest shelter.

By the looks of it, the rain could go on all night. He didn't want to be stuck inside the coffee shop that long; not when DGR81 didn't seem to have any plans of showing up after all. He didn't bring any umbrella and surely getting a cab at this point would be an impossibility—not unless he was willing to get soaked. As panic slowly crept within him, he couldn't help hold DGR81 responsible for any inconvenience he might endure for the next long hours.

He glanced around the now crowded coffee shop and realized that people had swarmed in to kill time until the rain had stopped. Wolfram could feel many eyes on him and the three vacant seats around his table.

"Excuse me," a voice behind Wolfram asked.

He was ready to answer a determined 'Y_es, that seat is taken,'_ but found himself looking into a dark-eyed, bleached blond young man.

"D-G-R-8-1?" he asked in a hopeful yet wavering tone. Though the man smiled back, he furrowed his brows, perplexed at the question.

"Are you D-G-R-8-1?" Wolfram asked louder, not giving in to the sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach.

"No, sorry," the man replied. He then pointed to the chair beside him and said, "Is this occupied?"

Disappointed, Wolfram ignored the stranger and returned to gaze out the window. With his peripheral vision, he saw the man grabbing the chair beside him. The blond continued to watch the downpour outside, still contemplating whether he should brave the weather and get soaked or stay up all night at the coffee shop. When another man approached him, motioning to the chair Murata had previously occupied, he edgily waved his hand in gesture of his consent. It was going to be a long night and his patience was wearing thin. For once, he wished Murata had kept him company.

"Excuse me, young man."

Without moving his head, Wolfram glared at the man across him from the corner of his eye. Only when the stranger held out his hand did Wolfram move his head.

"This was left on the chair I just took," the man said, leaving a raincoat on the table. He left Wolfram, staring wide-eyed at the raincoat.

He recognized the navy blue raincoat. It was the same over-sized raincoat Murata had insisted on lending him one time, when he and Yuuri left the bespectacled man's house one stormy night. It was the coat he had refused to wear, reasoning that he wouldn't want to put on anything that had been used by Murata. It was a hooded, waterproof coat similar to a poncho—another reason he didn't want to use it before, deeming the style outdated and made anyone look like a hoodlum.

For the first time since laying eyes upon the coat, Wolfram couldn't feel more grateful. He quickly donned the over-sized garment, rushed out of the coffee shop, walked under the torrential rain and headed for the train station with a huge grin on his face.

OooooooooO

With a start, Yuuri woke up to the loud slamming of the door. He dragged himself up to a sitting position on the sofa. Rubbing his eyes, he saw Wolfram peel off a navy drenched coat which a few seconds later was tossed carelessly by the entrance. A squishing sound made the dark-haired boy look over the sofa, down to the mud trail left by the blond who was already halfway up the flight of stairs.

"Stop right there!" Yuuri barked at the mud culprit who slowly turned around to look at the direction of the voice.

"Yu—uu—rii," Wolfram said, his teeth chattering, "I did—dn't realiz—ze you ww—we—ere there. Ssso—orry if I made you wo—worr—ryy, you must have f—ffal—len asleep waiting for me."

Yuuri opened his mouth to reprimand the blond for messing up the floor, but he changed his mind when he saw the weary green eyes, lips a shade of blue, and the trembling thin shoulders. He then dragged his feet towards the banister and stretched out a hand to his housemate.

"At least remove your shoes, Wolf," he said in resignation.

Slipping his shoes off, Wolfram muttered, "Ah, s—s—orry." He then handed his sneakers to Yuuri.

Without another word, Wolfram disappeared into the bathroom. Shortly, Yuuri heard the lock click in place and the sound of running water. He knew he couldn't rely on Wolfram to clean his tracks, thus, he did it himself while waiting for the blond to get out of the shower.

Half an hour later, Yuuri dialed Murata's number.

"Hey, it's me," Yuuri said over the phone. "Yup, he's home safe, taking a bath as we speak."

Chuckling, Yuuri then said, "Uhuh, he was wearing your infamous coat. Listen, I gotta go and check on him, he usually falls asleep in the tub and I don't want to be confronted by his brothers and mother should anything happen."

After another brief pause, Yuuri finally said, "Aww, please! I'm not gay. There's nothing he could possibly do to change me into one. I really have to go, bye!"

As soon as he ended his call, Yuuri went upstairs and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Wolfram, are you done? I'm going to switch off the lights downstairs now, unless you still need anything from there."

When there was no reply Yuuri rapped his knuckles on the door with more force.

"Wolfram! Wake up, man. I need to use the toilet," Yuuri lied.

Pressing an ear to the wooden panel, he heard the sound of water lapping. Shortly, the door swung open revealing a naked, half-lidded Wolfram who quickly turned around and submerged himself under the hot water once more.

Yuuri entered the mist covered bathroom and glanced over the slender boy in the tub whose eyes were closed. In his current state, Yuuri almost felt sorry for the tired-looking blond even though he knew that Wolfram was one of the most fortunate human beings in the world—and one of the most spoiled as well.

But despite his arrogance and unsociable manner, there was a considerable amount of dependency Wolfram displayed towards him. At first Yuuri was freaked out at Wolfram's advances but as time passed, he realized that the gorgeous boy was not really after him in _that_ perverted way. Yuuri felt that Wolfram needed someone to take care of him and provide him with constant attention—a permanent companion. There was a huge age difference between Wolfram and his two older brothers, and although they unconditionally doted on him, he was never considered their equal. And because Wolfram was standoffish, he didn't have any friends. When the arrangement to live with the Shibuyas was finalized, Yuuri was probably the first acquaintance Wolfram didn't mind hanging out with.

Not long after their meeting, and much to Yuuri's surprise and dismay, Wolfram seemed to enjoy living with him and even started showing signs of dependency. Yuuri had to admit that the younger-looking boy, though they were the same age, acted very immature for a sixteen-year-old. Many times he wanted to call his brother Shori to ask if Wolfram's family could take him back to Europe sooner. However, there were also a few times—so few he could count them with his fingers—when he regarded Wolfram like a younger brother he never had and felt like taking care of the vulnerable looking boy.

"Wolf, it's time to go to bed," Yuuri said gently but firmly, kneeling on the tiled floor and shaking the blond's shoulder.

"He stood me up," Wolfram muttered. Opening his eyes, he added, "Yuuri, I hate DGR81."

"I told you he sounded no good," Yuuri chided softly, sensing the blond's dejected spirits.

"Yuuri," Wolfram proceeded, closing his eyes once more, "you are the only friend I can rely on. I promise I will never trust and like another's company."

If Wolfram didn't look so innocent and harmless at that point, Yuuri wouldn't hesitate to tell him how his constant clinging had been getting on his nerves. Instead he kept his thoughts to himself and grabbed the towel on the rack.

"C'mon, Wolf," Yuuri said, handing out the towel to his housemate. "Let's go to sleep—in our room."

OooooooooO

As soon as the blond was snuggled in bed, which was actually _his_ and not Wolfram's, the black-haired boy switched the lights out and lay on the futon beside the bed. When he heard the loud snoring, he chuckled inwardly and remained still, instead of donning ear plugs which had become a nightly ritual. Despite the constant inconvenience of sharing his room with the foreigner, Yuuri had to admit that he had grown accustomed to Wolfram's presence in his room.

He could still remember the first night Wolfram insisted on sleeping with him. Apparently, Wolfram was afraid of being alone while he slept. Darkness was not the main issue for him, it was the thought that he was completely by himself that bothered him greatly. His mother, Cecile von Spitzweg, said that back home, they had a manservant waiting outside his chamber all night. For someone who was such a loner, Wolfram sure had a long way to go before being independent.

Yuuri would not mind so much sharing his room with another boy, but only if the boy in question was not _gay_. Though Wolfram neither acted nor spoke effeminately, he actually admitted his attraction for Yuuri just a few months after they first met. Yuuri later found out that Wolfram's eldest brother Gwendal had a longtime male partner, a long-haired European by the name of Günter. He deduced that since Gwendal was open about his relationship with another male, Wolfram was probably influenced into thinking homosexuality was not an issue.

Yuuri would like to believe he's not into men, as he used to be confident about his sexuality and attraction for the opposite sex. However, he could not deny that recently there had been times when he felt aroused by naked men groping each other playfully in the showers. To make matters worse, he knew it was because of Wolfram and the constant reminder of what had happened between them one unfortunate morning.

The blond, who was used to having his own private bath within his chamber in Europe, had a habit of leaving the door open. One time, Yuuri—half-asleep, groggy, naked and ready to hit the showers—accidentally stepped in between the knees of Wolfram who had fallen asleep in the bathtub. Startled, Yuuri grabbed the shower curtain to prevent himself from slipping but the material came off their hooks and he ended up atop Wolfram stark naked in the tub. The blond, who had then swallowed water, panicked and struggled underneath him, which resulted to several awkward and suggestive positions. Ever since that incident, Yuuri sternly ordered Wolfram to lock the bathroom door at all times. Unfortunately, the feel of the slick, slender body squirming against him was still engraved in his memory, no matter how hard he had pushed it aside.

Raising his upper body with his palms, Yuuri glanced surreptitiously over his sleeping roommate. Wolfram, in a shirt and boxer shorts, was sprawled unbecomingly on the bed. He couldn't help but feel sympathy for Wolfram when Murata informed him over the phone that the blond was adamant in waiting at the coffee shop for DGR81. Yuuri had always regarded himself as a naive, trusting guy. But Wolfram was worse; the blond believed every word from DGR81, a complete stranger he had not personally met. DGR81 could be an ex-convict, a stalker, a pervert, or anything but what he claimed to be. It was a good thing he stood Wolfram up, because now the blond didn't want to have anything to do with him, or so it seemed an hour ago.

Sighing, Yuuri returned to lying on his back once more and closed his eyes. Wolfram may be annoying and difficult most of the time, but Yuuri felt responsible for him. If there was one thing he was grateful to DGR81 for, it was that for the first time, Wolfram was finally able to go home on his own at that time of the night.

OooooooooO

Wolfram logged into his chat account, typing on the keyboard slowly and lightly. As soon as he was online, he clicked on his offline messages. He began to read the multiple apologies left by DGR81.

'_Sorry, I wasn't able to meet up with you.'_

'_I'm really sorry, I hope you didn't wait long.'_

'_I did drop by the coffee shop for a brief period, but left when I didn't find any gorgeous sixteen-year-old blond.'_

'_My phone ran out of battery and my cousin didn't have any mobile phone with him.'_

'_We ended up in a karaoke bar where I took care of my inebriated cousin.'_

'_Please accept my apologies, I'll try to make it up to you.'_

'_Send me a message to let me know if you were able to get home safely.'_

'_Ah, never mind my previous message, I'm sure your friend Murata made sure you got home in one piece.'_

'_As a peace offering, I'm going to send you chapters twelve to fourteen of my fic when I catch you online again.'_

'_Sleep well, bye!'_

Chuckling inwardly, Wolfram signed out of his chat account and turned off Yuuri's computer. His resentment towards DGR81 had vanished upon reading the reasonable explanation.

He carefully tiptoed to the futon beside the bed and knelt before his sleeping friend. Though the boy had always brushed off his affections, Wolfram was positive Yuuri cared for him more than he let on. He vaguely remembered how he got out of the bathtub and unto the bed that night and was sure Yuuri had helped him. The fact that he found Yuuri waiting for him in the living room when he came home was another proof of the boy's genuine concern for him.

With Yuuri as his constant companion and DGR81 as his chat buddy, Wolfram felt he couldn't be more content—and if only Murata wasn't such a perverted geek out to get him, his life would be perfect.

Kissing Yuuri lightly on the cheek, Wolfram whispered, "You better be good to me or else DGR81 may take your place in my heart someday."

OooooooooO

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Kyou Kara Maoh!_ or any of its characters. I do not make money from these writings.

**Beta-reader**: XEOHE

**Warnings**: yaoi (malexmale), coarse language, AU (Alternate Universe), and OOC (Out of Character).

**A/N**: Special thanks to XEOHE for agreeing to beta read this fan fiction. Her KKM fics are amazing and I'm honored to have her look over ALTERed EGO.

.a. and eclst: Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm really happy that you enjoyed the previous chapters. I hope this one will be to your liking as well.

**ALTERed EGO ****– Part Three**

**By ****chris'cut**

"Hey, this isn't fair! I want to play something else," the blond whined. "How come I have ten more words than you do but your score is way higher?"

Chuckling, the bespectacled boy explained for the fifth time that afternoon, "That's because you only have four-letter words written down, while I have five to ten-letter words. Longer words deserve bigger points."

"Grrrr!" Without bothering to turn off all the programs, Wolfram slammed his widescreen laptop shut and said, "Let's play video games instead—you won't be able to outsmart me there."

Shaking his head, Yuuri got up from the bed and grinned at his two friends who had been playing for over a couple of hours. When Murata arrived at the Shibuyas' doorstep, Yuuri thought his best friend had come to hang out with him. Much to his surprise, Wolfram rushed to the door and snatched Murata away from him, dragging the man to their room. Yuuri still couldn't believe Wolfram had actually invited Murata over to spend the Sunday afternoon with them and wondered if the foreigner had hit his head harder than usual when he fell out of bed that day.

With a hand on the doorknob, Yuuri said over his shoulders, "Guys, I'm going to get us some ice cream. Which flavors do you want?" Looking at Wolfram he added, "Aside from strawberry, pistachio, or mocha."

"Any of those sound good," Murata replied, not leaving his eyes on the blond who was preoccupied with hooking up the portable video game to the forty-two-inch LCD.

"Alright, I'll be back in a jiffy. Don't turn on the volume too loud. The pizza guy will be here any minute now and you might not hear him again," Yuuri reminded his friends. "And when the food arrives, don't bring it up here unless you're willing to clean up the mess. Got that, Wolf?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Wolfram mumbled, as he took his place beside Murata once more.

Rolling his eyes, Yuuri left his bedroom to go to the convenience store a few blocks away from the Shibuya residence.

OooooooooO

Yuuri stayed out longer than he planned after remembering how they were running low in supply of toiletries and snacks. As soon as he entered the house, he found the blond behind the dining table with two boxes of pizza in front of him.

"Where's Murata?" Yuuri asked suspiciously. "Did you throw him out?"

Wolfram curled his upper lip at the accusation and said, "Of course not! He's over there." He then motioned his head to the living room.

Yuuri moved to look over the back of the sofa and immediately dropped the grocery bag to the floor. He found his friend lying down with his head tilted back, an ice pack over his upper lip, and a bloodstained tissue stuffed in one nostril.

Rubbing his face in dismay, Yuuri muttered, "Oh my God, what did you do now, Wolf?" His hopes of a pleasant Sunday dinner with his two friends had gone out the window.

"Why me? He was the one who attacked first," Wolfram retorted defensively, taking a huge bite from the pizza in his hand. "Hey, Pervert, tell him what happened because he would never believe me anyway."

As Yuuri helped Murata sit up, the battered boy started recounting the incident. "I broke the computer's record so I got carried away and hugged him—you know, same way we hug each other after winning soccer or baseball. I don't know why he clobbered me all of a sudden."

"Liar," Wolfram grumbled. "You didn't hug me, you pounced on me. Oh, and I didn't clobber you, you can blame my reflex for that elbow job."

Sighing deeply, Yuuri patted his friend's chest and said, "Has the bleeding stopped? Come on, get up and let's eat before the pizza gets cold."

As soon as Yuuri and Murata reached the table, Wolfram took another slice of pizza and went to the living room. Turning on the TV, he ignored the two dark-haired boys who began discussing baseball and girls.

Wolfram had seen Murata flirt with the girls in school. He wished Murata would stick to them exclusively instead of including him in his list of prospects. It was not that the boy was unattractive. In fact, even though Murata came across as a geek, Wolfram had to admit that the boy didn't look bad at all. Without his glasses, he actually looked quite good—almost as much as Yuuri. But it was Murata's aggressive behavior that turned him off. Wolfram didn't like being touched by anyone other than his relatives, and Yuuri—who rarely did and unless necessary.

"Wolfram," Murata called from the dining room, "do you need any help with the exams starting this Wednesday?"

For a moment, Yuuri left his mouth hanging open in disbelief. "Why do you even bother? Are you a masochist?"

Wolfram pretended to be engrossed in the movie he was watching and remained silent during the next few attempts of Murata to have a conversation with him. Only when he heard Murata's next statement did he turn to give them dagger looks.

"What's that again?" Wolfram asked, glowering at the other boys.

"I said, I think I know now why you asked me over," Murata said smugly. "You were pretending to be friendly with me to make Yuuri jealous, right?"

Yuuri joined in by saying, "Obviously, it's not working so you decided to drop the nice act all of a sudden." Grinning at Murata he added, "Why didn't I figure that out? You truly are a genius."

"You!" Wolfram stood up indignantly, pointing at Murata then Yuuri in turn. "You!"

"Arrrrghh!" Stomping his feet, the blond sprinted up the stairs then slammed Yuuri's door.

The two boys stared at each other briefly then doubled over with laughter.

After their banter had ceased, Yuuri told Murata, "I bet he's online now, spilling out his frustrations to his chat buddy."

"You think so?" Murata asked, pushing his glasses back up.

"Yup, I'm positive," Yuuri said. "I just don't understand how someone like him enjoys the company of a stranger. He doesn't even have any idea on the guy's real identity. No real name, no specific school where the guy claims he's teaching at, nothing."

"Hmmm…. Maybe he's just satisfied with spending time with him online. Like an intellectual intercourse."

Snorting, Yuuri remarked, "There's nothing intellectual with Wolfram."

"I don't know. It seems like Wolfram really enjoys conversing with this guy."

"I wonder what he'll do if the guy turns out to be a psycho with a major hygiene problem," Yuuri said. "Man, that'll be tough. He probably would never give him the time of day."

"What if he's average or great looking?" Murata said, testing Yuuri's reaction. "You sure will be history, Shibuya!"

"Give me a break. He's a boy, same as you and me. Unlike you, I'm not attracted to Wolfram."

"Good! One less rival to contend with," Murata retorted grinning from ear to ear.

"Why do you adore him? I didn't even know you were gay before you met Wolfram."

"He's cute… and seems loyal," Murata simply answered.

"Cute? He's a selfish loafer!"

Chuckling, Murata got up from his seat and said, "I have to go. Please say goodbye to Blondie for me."

"You sure you don't want to spend the night? You can sleep in Shori's room," Yuuri offered.

Clutching at his heart with exaggeration, Murata said, "Man! Don't rub it in. I envy you, really."

"Eh? My ears hurt because of the earplugs I wear to drown his snoring. Sharing a room with him is torture, believe me."

"I hope you mean that," Murata said, slipping into his shoes, "because someday, I want you to be happy when I take him away from you."

"Jeez, Wolfram's right about you in some ways. You are cheesy indeed!" Yuuri exclaimed, gently pushing his friend out the door. "See you tomorrow."

OooooooooO

After reading three unpublished chapters of DGR81's fan fiction, Wolfram's favorite author finally went online.

'_Hey, how's your day coming along?'_ greeted DGR81.

'_Awful. The dog not only ignored the bone being eyed by the other, but both dogs ended up making fun of the bone!'_ Wolfram typed.

'_LOL! That's a new figure of speech. I think I understand though. So Yuuri did not get jealous?'_

'_Nope, but in a way I'm glad this kind of approach didn't work. I don't want to spend more time with that four-eyed pervert. Would you believe he pounced on me while we were playing video games?'_

'_Really?__ ROFL! I hope you didn't lose any meat after he pounced on you. Hahah! Ahem... But seriously, I still think it's too early to give up. If you stick to this plan longer, Yuuri might actually believe it's genuine and only then will we see the real result. What do you think?'_

'_From Wednesday until Friday we'll have exams and Murata offered to help me out. Should I invite him over for a study session?'_

'_I think __there is a more effective way of going about this,' _DGR81 wrote.

'_What do you mean?__ How then?'_ Wolfram asked.

OooooooooO

"I'm at the convenience store, getting myself some toiletries for the night," Wolfram said as he grabbed some snacks from one of the shelves in the twenty-four hour store near Murata's residence.

He paused for a few seconds and listened to the chatter on the other line.

"That's why I said don't wait for me. Just go ahead and lock up. Comprehending calculus is more difficult than I anticipated," the blond then said. After a while, he added, "I'm definitely spending the night in Murata's place."

Wolfram removed the hands-free earpiece connected to his phone, slipped it into his pocket, and completely ignored the other boy still talking at the other end.

"What did Shibuya say?" Murata asked behind Wolfram.

"Blah, blah, blah," the blond said with a shrug. "He started nagging about how I should behave myself and not to give you and your parents a hard time."

"It's only ten-thirty, you can still change your mind and go home you know," Murata reiterated for the fourth time that evening. "We're almost done and I'm sure you can pass the exam with what we have already covered."

"Really?" Green eyes lit up at a new idea. "So it's not necessary to study any further?"

Murata nodded his head as they reached the counter. "You can use my laptop if you want."

"No, thanks. I have mine in my backpack," Wolfram said while paying for his purchases.

"Hey, thanks!" Murata grinned as the blond reached out for the snacks in his hand and paid for them as well. "I wouldn't even dare ask why you're doing this. I'll just take this as your way of thanking me for the tutorials."

"Of course, I wouldn't want to pay you any other way, Pervert," Wolfram mumbled.

OooooooooO

Murata reached out for his glasses on the bedside table when he heard the hard punching of keys. He found Wolfram on the bed, lying on his chest with a laptop in front of him, fingers pounding on the keyboard.

"Can't sleep?" Murata asked, his eyes squinting behind the black-rimmed spectacles.

"My friend is not on SMS and didn't go online at all today, so I'm sending him offline messages just in case he is on invisible mode and just ignoring me."

"Maybe he's busy." Yawning loudly, Murata added, "Why do need to talk to him?"

Turning his head to look at the boy sitting on the futon, Wolfram simply answered, "Habit, I guess."

Murata stood up and headed for the door. "I'm going to the bathroom. Do you need anything from the kitchen? I might make myself a sandwich as an after-midnight-snack."

"Nah, I'm going to sleep soon," Wolfram replied as he returned to abusing the keyboard.

Closing the door behind him, Murata went to kitchen pantry and grabbed the netbook he had stashed there earlier. He quickly logged on to his account while appearing offline to his contacts, and started reading the messages from 4tun8.

'_Where are you? __As per your suggestion, I decided to sleep over at Murata's house.'_

'_Dinner wasn't so good. Mrs. Murata is not a great cook. Murata often dropped by Yuuri's house to taste Miko-san's curry when she was still here in Tokyo and I now understand why.'_

'_I'm proud of my acting skills. I was able to ignore the surprised looks Murata had given me all evening. I just hope he tells Yuuri how nice I've been.'_

'_I don't think this is working though. Yuuri doesn't seem bothered with the attention I'm giving another; if anything, he's more concerned about Murata.'_

'_BTW, how was your day? Did your students give you a tough time?'_

'_It's 1AM and Murata just woke up. He's probably at the kitchen now having a snack.'_

'_I'm surprised he hasn't made any move on me the whole time we were studying. Do you think he'll try while I'm asleep?'_

'_Hah! Don't get me wrong—I'm not scared. I'm physically stronger than him actually.' _

'_Hey, if all this Yuuri and Murata stuff is boring, I'm sorry. We can always talk about something else.'_

'_How's your fiction coming along? I enjoyed chapter 14 a lot. So much angst and yet there were still some funny parts.'_

'_I miss chatting with you. I will stay online until Murata returns.'_

Beaming from ear to ear, Murata logged off his chat account and signed into his fan fiction account to read the two reviews for the day. In the middle of replying to the second review, he heard a familiar shuffling of feet behind the pantry door. Typing slower, he quickly finished his review and was about to hit the send button when the door swung open.

"What are you doing there?" Wolfram asked, raising an eyebrow.

Before Murata could even reply, the blond reached out to snatch the laptop away from him. In the nick of time, he managed to close the netbook shut and raised it above his head.

Instead of attempting to grab the item, Wolfram turned around and calmly said, "Fine, carry on with what you were doing. I'd rather you relieve yourself in here than do it while I'm sleeping."

Murata followed the blond out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"I'm not viewing porn, if that's what you were implying."

"Whatever," Wolfram said, yawning out loud. "As long as you keep your hands to yourself, I don't really give a damn about how you spend your time."

Changing the topic Murata asked, "Did you get to talk to your friend online?"

"Nope. He must be real busy because he hasn't replied to the review I left this afternoon."

"Is that so?" Murata said as he closed the bedroom door behind them. "Maybe he was about to do so but got interrupted."

Furrowing his brows, Wolfram remarked, "Huh? What are you babbling about?"

OooooooooO

"Shibuya, Mom's inviting you to stay for dinner," Murata said, poking his head from behind the door.

Yuuri looked up from Murata's desk and said, "Ah thanks, but Wolf and I will leave soon."

"Speak for yourself. I'm spending the night here. Right, Murata?" corrected the blond, lying on his back with a PSP in his hands.

"You're not even studying these," Yuuri said, leafing through the pages of the book on Murata's desk.

"I will go over those later—that's why I need to sleep over."

"Aren't you even concerned about Murata's parents? That you might be imposing on their kindness?"

Shifting his gaze briefly from the PSP to Murata, Wolfram asked nonchalantly, "Am I?"

"Shibuya, you know how mom loves having you over. Same goes for Wolfram," assured the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Murata. "That's settled then. I need to go back and help mom in the kitchen."

Without waiting for further objection, the bespectacled boy disappeared behind the door.

"You've been here for the past couple of nights. What's the deal, Wolf?"

When the blond paid no attention, Yuuri continued with his interrogation. "Are you two seriously getting along or is this just an act on my behalf? Do you honestly no longer mind spending time alone with Murata or are you just using him?"

"Ah, shit!" Wolfram cried out, tossing the PSP carelessly on the bed. "I can never get past that stage," he then uttered, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling.

"Fine, ignore me! Now that your game is done, we should head home." Yuuri grabbed Wolfram's wrist and yanked the blond out of the bed.

"Ouch!" Wolfram yelped as he was roughly dragged out of his comfortable position and landed on the floor. "What the heck is the matter with you? You've been edgy all afternoon!"

Sneering, Yuuri remarked, "I'm surprised you've noticed after all; you've been brushing me off for the last couple of days."

"So what? You've been doing that to me all year," Wolfram retorted while rubbing his behind.

"Let's go. You're still my responsibility and I can't allow you to stay out of my sight for several nights in a row," Yuuri explained more calmly while handing the blond his backpack.

"What about dinner?" Wolfram asked as Yuuri shoved him out of Murata's bedroom.

"We'll buy that on our way home."

OooooooooO

Without providing much explanation to Mrs. Murata, Yuuri simply informed the woman and her son that they had to get home earlier and left. The two sixteen-year-old boys ended up at a sushi bar near the Shibuyas' residence.

"Did you miss me, Yuuri?" Wolfram teased.

"I hate to burst your bubble, but I thoroughly enjoyed the freedom while you were gone," Yuuri said, popping a roll of sushi into his mouth.

Sighing, Wolfram leaned against his seat and met the dark orbs studying him. "If that's the case, you should have left me there. I keep in touch with my mother and brothers regularly so they know I'm safe and sound. They wouldn't know that I was not in your house unless you tell them."

When Yuuri remained silent, Wolfram said, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"This D-G-R-8-1," Yuuri started, "did he tell you to sleep over at Murata's?"

"No, but even if he did, what's it to you?"

"Did he tell you to be nice to Murata?"

"No, why should he?"

"I'm trying to figure that out."

Wolfram knitted his brows at Yuuri's odd behavior and questions.

"You seem curious about DGR81 all of a sudden," the blond commented. "I know you don't approve of me making friends online, and if it's any consolation, I haven't chatted with him for the past two days."

Raising a brow, Yuuri supplied, "Because he was offline, I bet."

"Yes. I suppose it doesn't take a genius to conclude that," Wolfram commented.

"Didn't you ever wonder why he was not able to go online the whole time you were at Murata's house?"

"If there's something you want to say then spill it," Wolfram said impatiently.

"What if…." Yuuri paused for a few good seconds as he carefully phrased his question. "What if D-G-R-8-1 is someone you know—you've known for a while and detest? What if you find out he was just manipulating you all this time? Will you still want to be friends with him?"

Wolfram mulled over his relationship with DGR81. It was impossible to hate the man who had kept him company for many nights after school. If DGR81 had lied about his identity and turned out to be someone he already knew, he could only eagerly anticipate spending time with him in person. What disturbed him greatly was Yuuri's choice of words, especially about being manipulated.

"I suppose, I would still accept him. Aside from you, he's the only person I'm comfortable with and enjoy spending time with," Wolfram finally answered.

Shaking his head, Yuuri muttered, "You already did. As a matter of fact, you've just spent two nights with him."

Dumbfounded and open-mouthed, Wolfram sat staring at Yuuri.

OooooooooO

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Kyou Kara Maoh!_ or any of its characters. I do not make money from these writings.

**Beta-reader**: XEOHE

**Warnings**: yaoi (malexmale), coarse language, AU (Alternate Universe), and OOC (Out of Character).

**A/N**: Hi everyone! Here's the second to the last installment. Have fun reading!

XEOHE: Thank you so much for going over this chapter in such little time. I sincerely look forward to your new KKM work.

animefreak03, nana, nickypooh, and Tenshi no Nanimo: Thanks a lot for letting me know how much you liked the previous chapter. I hope you will enjoy this one as well.

**ALTERed EGO ****– Part Four **

**By chris'cut**

"You're lying," Wolfram accused his dinner companion. "Admit it. You only want to discredit DGR81."

Meeting the other boy's gaze, Yuuri calmly explained, "Didn't you ever question why he never showed up at the coffee shop? Or why he never replied to your SMS that time? Or why you never catch him online whenever Murata's around?"

"He had a reasonable explanation for not showing up. I suppose he had his hands full at work, that's why he wasn't able to chat with me these past few days," Wolfram said to DGR81's defense. "Murata can't be DGR81; they have nothing in common!"

"You haven't known Murata as long as I have." Yuuri sniggered. "Didn't you even find it suspicious that DGR81 always advised you to act nice and spend more time with him?"

"That's because Murata's your best friend and there's no one else I could use to make you jealous," Wolfram blurted out without thinking.

"So the truth has finally come out," Yuuri said grimly, placing his chopsticks on the table. "All this time you were just pretending; making it seem like you were getting along just fine with Murata."

"That's not entirely true. If you must know, I had quite a pleasant time over his place. It wasn't so bad."

Sighing, Yuuri then said, "If that's the case, then you shouldn't mind at all that Murata is DGR81."

"What are you trying to do? Are you trying to make me hate DGR81 or Murata?"

"I'm just straightening things out. If you're willing to accept Murata as your favorite chat buddy, then there shouldn't be any problem. He could cease fabricating stuff, stop hiding behind his alter ego, and quit giving you silly suggestions."

"How can you be so sure that he is DGR81?" Wolfram challenged, refusing to accept even the slightest possibility.

"Why don't you ask Murata himself?" Yuuri said.

"Fine," Wolfram agreed, nodding his head and reaching for his phone.

Exhaling loudly, Yuuri remarked, "You really ought to use your head sometimes. I mean, c'mon, wouldn't it be better to ask him face-to-face? Then you'd definitely get a candid reaction."

"Hey Murata," Wolfram spoke into his phone, entirely dismissing Yuuri's suggestion.

After a momentary pause, the blond grumbled impatiently, "Yeah, yeah. Cut out the crappy greetings. Listen, are you DGR81? Yuuri is positive you're the same person."

Licking his lips that had suddenly gone dry, Wolfram waited for Murata's response. Shortly, he snapped, "Stop going around in circles! Are you or are you not DGR81?"

Yuuri saw all color gradually leave Wolfram's face. Tight-lipped, the blond switched his phone off, grabbed his backpack, and stormed out of the sushi bar. Yuuri hurriedly left several notes on the table and followed Wolfram.

Respecting the disillusioned blond's feelings, Yuuri walked alongside him in silence. Upon reaching the Shibuya residence, Wolfram went inside their room while Yuuri decided to give the boy some time alone and stayed in the living room. Yuuri thought of calling Murata but was unsure of how he'd explain what he just did. He himself was surprised that he blurted out the new-found discovery to Wolfram before confirming the facts with his best friend. Yuuri settled on the sofa, turned on the TV and stared blankly at the screen.

OooooooooO

The next day, Wolfram idled restlessly. He alternately played video games without finishing a single match and watched movies without seeing any until the end. When Yuuri entered the bedroom to grab their laundry, the blond ignored him completely and focused on deciding which game or movie to deal with next.

Upon hearing a deep sigh from his roommate, Yuuri turned to look at him and said, "I could really use some help downstairs. In case you've forgotten, we haven't cleaned the house in two weeks."

Exhaling loudly once more, Wolfram dismissed the insinuation and instead remarked, "I'm bored. Let's go out and do something—like watch a movie, cycle around the park, hang out at the mall, anything other than stay inside."

"Doing household chores can get your mind off things too—if that's what you're trying to do," Yuuri suggested in a deadpan voice.

"It's only Saturday, we can do that tomorrow," Wolfram said, stretching out of his Indian sit. Yuuri found himself staring at the long, sinuous thighs revealed under the tiny spandex shorts.

"What the heck are you wearing?" Yuuri asked in a choked voice, eyes darting back and forth between the rounded cheeks almost poking out of the garment and the well-defined contour at the front. Shaking his head vigorously, he added, "Na-uh! There's no way we're going anywhere with you looking like that!"

Running his thumb and index along the edge of the material to pull it lower, Wolfram snorted and said, "Relax, Wimp. Of course I'll change, but you'll have to lend me a pair of shorts since I don't have any clean bottoms left except for this conservative swimwear."

After lowering the laundry bin to the floor, Yuuri rummaged through his dresser. Seconds later, he suddenly stopped, glared at Wolfram, and said, "Hey, wait a minute. Who said we're going out today? I told you I need help downstairs; so unless you do your share of work, we aren't leaving this house."

"We've just finished exams which I studied _real_ hard for and I'm almost positive I did very well," Wolfram reasoned out calmly. "Let's go out and unwind for a bit—as a reward. Please, Yuuri."

Curling his upper lip, Yuuri quipped, "Seems like you've been rewarding yourself all morning while I was slaving away."

With a feigned pout, Wolfram approached Yuuri, placed his hands on the boy's shoulders, and started kneading at the right places.

"Yuuri, you've taken such good care of me all this time, and to show you my sincere appreciation, I promise to give you a massage later. I remember how much you enjoyed it last time even though you denied it," Wolfram teased with a provocative smile on his lips.

With the unexpected massage along with the nearness of the blond, Yuuri found himself drawn to the soft curves of the full lips and the wide, innocent, green eyes framed with long, thick eyelashes. Despite living together for a year, he never really got used to the blond's looks—if anything, he seemed even more alluring than the first time they met. Though he felt like grinning back at the happy face and skillful fingers, he brushed off Wolfram's hands, grabbed the laundry bin and headed for the door.

"Fine. Go help yourself to any of my shorts that will fit you. We'll leave as soon as I load this in the washer. But whatever we put off today must be done tomorrow, agreed?"

"Yes, certainly," Wolfram said.

As soon as Yuuri left the room, Wolfram slipped out of the tight spandex garment and donned the first pair of old cargo shorts he found that seemed close to his size. While brushing his hair, he reached into his backpack with his free hand for his wallet. He then glanced across the room for his cell phone and spotted it on Yuuri's desk. He took the cell phone beside the keyboard and slipped it into his pocket. He blinked at the monitor several times, contemplating whether or not he should check his mail. He had successfully fought the urge to do so last night, but it didn't stop him from wondering if DGR81 had left any message for him.

Wolfram shook his head and reprimanded himself for looking forward to his chat buddy's email. He reminded himself that DGR81 and Murata happened to be the same person—one very perverted and devious person. Anticipating any form of correspondence with DGR81 was one he now considered a bad habit that needed to be removed from his system.

When he asked Murata if he was DGR81, the boy only replied, _"I'm sorry, I really am."_ Despite Wolfram's unwillingness to accept the truth, the realization explained many things. It was now clear why DGR81 had often abruptly ceased chatting with him as soon as he started bashing Murata; why DGR81 never showed up at the coffee shop; why DGR81 never went online the entire time he stayed at Murata's house; and why Murata was hiding in the pantry with a netbook. Yuuri was right all along: DGR81 was not a math professor and was just some jerk who constantly fabricated excuses to cover his real identity.

Sighing deeply for the nth time that morning, he turned his back on the computer and stepped out of the room. _DGR81 is history! _ he told himself, slamming the door shut behind him.

OooooooooO

After cycling for an hour, Yuuri and Wolfram ended up at a bench in front of the park's fountain. Side by side they had their lunch while watching the little children playing at a distance. Wolfram often turned to look at Yuuri who, from time to time, would suddenly burst into laughter with a mouthful of hot dog.

"What's so funny, Wimp?" Wolfram said, licking the mayonnaise off his fingers.

Yuuri stopped laughing and rolled his eyes at his companion. "You really ought to enjoy other people's fun, even just once in a while. The kids amuse me, so what? By the way, why do you keep calling me that? Last time I checked, I'm still the one cooking for you, cleaning your mess, and making sure you stay out of trouble."

"Hmph! You just answered your own question," Wolfram remarked smugly.

"Eeeehh?" Yuuri exclaimed, perplexed.

"Only a wimp would be such a pushover," Wolfram said nonchalantly before taking a sip of his canned soda.

Yuuri opened his mouth in disbelief. He wanted to tilt the can on the ungrateful boy's lips, but couldn't because it would only stain his favorite old cargo shorts. Pacifying himself, he averted his eyes to the children once more.

Wolfram stood up to throw his trash and said, "Earlier, I remember seeing a stand selling milkshakes; if I find it, I'm going to buy one. Do you want one?"

"Sure, get me whatever you're having." Yuuri reached into his pocket but the blond had already left the bench. Cupping his mouth, he hollered to Wolfram, "Thanks!"

After what seemed like just a few minutes, Yuuri felt Wolfram return to his side. Without taking his eyes off the kids who were now playing baseball, he said, "That was fast. You didn't find the stand?"

"I'm very disappointed in you, Shibuya," the boy beside Yuuri said. Yuuri jerked his head to the side and saw his best friend.

"Actually, I think that's my line," Yuuri retorted.

"When and how did you find out? Why didn't you come to me before anybody else?" Murata said slowly, keeping his emotions in check.

"I've had my suspicions for a while—ever since I read DGR81's work, to be exact," Yuuri said, looking everywhere but Murata's direction. "Out of all the names in world, you chose to give three of your original characters the names of those guys who bullied you during the tenth grade."

Murata surprised Yuuri by chuckling. "I never thought _you_, of all people, would end up reading my work. What else gave me away?"

"When DGR81 said he sometimes dyed his hair blond and wore colored contacts. There were other things but the last one that confirmed everything was when I picked up Wolfram from your house and saw your favorite book entitled _'The Great One'_. It dawned on me that D-G-R-8-1 could also be read as _'The Great One'_, am I right?"

Murata laughed softly in response.

"So you're not upset with me?" Yuuri asked, finally looking sideways at Murata. He saw his friend draw up his chin and knit his brows.

"I am—very much, if you want to know the truth," Murata replied in a collected voice. "But if I punch you that would make Wolfram worry and maybe even take care of you. I wouldn't want that."

"I'm sorry, man. It felt like the right thing to do at that time," Yuuri said sincerely. "Look at the bright side. Now there's a chance he'll warm up to the real you—after all, DGR81 is his only chat buddy and favorite author."

"I think right now he hates my alter ego more than my real self," Murata commented. "Admit it, Shibuya; you got insecure that he no longer seemed to mind hanging out with me as much."

Rolling his eyes, Yuuri replied, "I don't think like you and I don't feel for him the way you do."

"After you told him about DGR81's real identity, have you—even just once—talked him out of hating me? Have you tried to make him understand why I chose not to disclose my real self? Did you try to convince him that whatever he enjoyed talking with DGR81, he could also do so with me?"

Yuuri searched for a better answer than the _'No'_ his conscience was screaming inside his head. He wondered why indeed he had not tried to patch things up between Wolfram and Murata. What the bespectacled man said could not be the truth; he couldn't possibly have exposed his best friend out of jealousy. Or did he? He shook his head to get rid of the dubious thoughts.

"I was concerned that you would end up devastated if he never comes around to liking the real you," Yuuri finally answered. "Besides, don't you want to start a genuine friendship without lies?"

"How could I be disappointed when it was my alter ego who suggested it in the first place? I was prepared for that. Even if he never warms up to Murata, we can still keep each other company online."

"You were taking advantage of his naïvety, Murata." Muttering, Yuuri added, "Taking into consideration how much you're infatuated with him, I was somewhat concerned for him as well."

"When did you start having such a low opinion of me? I let Wolfram or the others call me 'pervert' because I know myself better—and I thought you did too."

"I'm sorry I doubted you," Yuuri said. "Look, I had to stop this nonsense you created. I was hoping you'd reveal yourself of your own accord, but you didn't. I admit I was wrong by going ahead of you; I should have confronted you and demanded that you set things straight. As an apology, I will do my best to patch things up for—"

Yuuri's mouth was left hanging open upon suddenly seeing pink, thick liquid travel down Murata's head all the way to his lap. He gazed up and found Wolfram holding two large empty cups upside down, above Murata's head.

"You really are a wimp, Yuuri," the cold voice breached the silence. "Why do you apologize to the one who's guilty?"

Wolfram turned on his heel and left the two boys still in shock. Snapping out of his stupor, Yuuri fumbled for his face towel and began wiping the milkshake off his friend's spectacles. As soon as the black eyes came into view, Yuuri was taken aback slightly at the glowering orbs. Not once had he seen Murata with such an expression—that of which seemed like anger and humiliation all rolled into one.

"He's done worse things to me. He sometimes steps on me when he gets out of bed and... and remember how he elbowed your nose last week? See, this is his normal self—don't think too much about it," Yuuri said in an attempt to appease Murata. "Ah and whenever he wakes me up, he yanks my hair or pinches my nose."

Laughing nervously, Yuuri proceeded to babble on, "But he'll make it up to you; he always does to me. I'm actually getting used to his ways and if you look past his immaturity, you'll discover a sweet person. Remember how you once described him as cute and loyal? Maybe you're right."

When Murata failed to give any reaction, Yuuri suddenly remembered his spare shirt. He took the shirt from his belt bag and handed it to his friend.

"Here, use this for now," he offered with a weak smile. If Murata didn't wear such a grave expression on his face, Yuuri would have taken a picture of him drenched in pink, sticky milkshake—he inwardly thought the image would be hilarious once they look back on that day.

Murata curtly brushed off Yuuri's hand and walked away, hunching his back more than ever. Yuuri's heart sank at the sight of his friend. For the first time since exposing his best friend's alter ego to Wolfram, Yuuri felt ashamed of himself.

OooooooooO

Wolfram stared at the screen in front of him. He had browsed over numerous stories on the net and had read a few interesting ones. He found himself subconsciously logging into his chat account and caught himself just in time before clicking the 'sign in' button. Out of habit, he was about to discuss the new works he had just stumbled upon with his favorite author, DGR81. The blond quickly shut down the computer and went downstairs to check on Yuuri. He found him in the kitchen, stirring the soup for dinner.

"Do you need any help?"

Yuuri grinned at his housemate. Though appearing somewhat listless, the blond had been quite useful around the house for the last seven days—ever since the incident at the park, to be exact. When Yuuri tried to talk to him about Murata, he had either evaded the questions or simply refused to discuss anything. Likewise, Murata had also avoided them both in school, barely acknowledging their presence even within the classroom. Yuuri figured that Wolfram probably felt that he was left with no other friend except him. Thus, he had been very cooperative in fear of losing the only person that he could talk to. Though Wolfram's abrupt change in disposition worked to Yuuri's advantage, the latter knew he had to find a way for his two closest friends to reconcile—after all, he was the instigator of their rift.

"We need to heat up our main course, but if you don't want to use the microwave, you can set the table and prepare our drinks instead," Yuuri replied to the boy was already by the fridge.

"It's alright. A few times shouldn't do much damage," Wolfram muttered as he took the white container from the fridge to the microwave.

"Anything interesting online today?" Yuuri asked.

"A lot—but stuff you wouldn't feel comfortable discussing."

"Ah, right. Yeah, I prefer not to engage in a topic of _that_ kind." Trying his luck, Yuuri added, "Why don't you give Murata a call? You used to love talking to him about those."

When Wolfram didn't react, Yuuri added, "He's just waiting for you to make the first move, to forgive him. I can sense you miss his company too—seeing you moping around all week."

Exhaling loudly, Wolfram took a seat and rested his chin over his crossed arms on the table.

"Why do you hate Murata so much when he's actually the same person you admire and like a lot? Do you feel betrayed or is there another reason?" Yuuri asked for the nth time that week. "Just tell him how you feel. You don't have to force yourself to become friends again, but at least give your relationship some closure."

At the sound of the microwave beeping, the blond dragged his feet to the oven and took out their dinner. Wolfram didn't want to think about Murata or DGR81; he just wished he could find something else to get him out of his seemingly endless boredom. Though he was inwardly pleased with Yuuri's attention and gentler ways, there were other things under the sun he wanted to share—with someone who made his ranting and babbling feel less trivial. But the one person who used to make him feel good about himself turned out to be nothing but a scheming, four-eyed freak who took advantage of his credulousness.

"I've decided that I will drop by Murata's house tomorrow," Yuuri said, as he placed two bowls of soup on the dining table. "I need to straighten things out with him as well. Do you want to come along?"

With a shrug, Wolfram nonchalantly replied, "What for? I have nothing to say to him."

OooooooooO

"What time will you be home? It's already five o'clock," Wolfram reminded Yuuri over the cell phone. After a brief pause he threatened, "Fine, but if Gwendal calls I won't hesitate to say that I'm all alone here."

Wolfram momentarily moved the earpiece away from his ears at the loud retort on the other end before saying, "Relax, Wimp. Can't you take a joke? Just get back before midnight, alright?"

The blond raised an eyebrow at the question asked next. He then replied sourly, "No thanks. How many times have I told you that I have nothing to say to him? Goodbye, Yuuri. Get home safe and in one piece, OK?"

Wolfram then switched off his cell phone and slumped onto the sofa beside his laptop. Before calling Yuuri, he had already made up his mind to check his messages, including anything from DGR81. Now that the two double-blacks had resolved their issues, Yuuri would spend more time with Murata once again, leaving him with only two options: either hang out with them or spend idle time alone. Though the former of the two wasn't to his liking, the latter was worse. Thus, he wanted to settle the score and make a deal with the bespectacled boy.

He already knew what he was going to write to Murata. He was going to tell him that he will never be able to accept a sly, deceitful, jerk like him as a friend. He would also demand that they are not to have any form of conversation even when they were both with Yuuri. Lastly, he would warn Murata that any breach in this condition would result to DGR81 being reported to legal authorities for circulating 'NC-17' stories to minors, particularly Wolfram von Bielefeld.

Grinning smugly, Wolfram logged into his account and was fully prepared to cold-shoulder all apologies from DGR81. It had been a week since he last signed in and he anticipated numerous messages from him. He figured that since Murata never sent any text message or called as himself, he most likely apologized by using his alter ego's account in cowardice.

Wolfram's pulse quickened as he typed his username, 4tun8, and password. Shortly, he checked his inbox and found no unread emails. He didn't find any offline messages either. He logged into his fan fiction account and felt his heart drop to the floor upon discovering that his private message inbox was empty as well. He wondered if his former favorite chat buddy was just as upset with him, especially after humiliating him at the park. But what disturbed Wolfram greatly was the disappointment he was currently experiencing. Even to himself, Wolfram refused to admit that a big part of him was looking forward to the boy's explanations.

Slamming his laptop shut, Wolfram carelessly sprawled along the sofa and clicked on the TV remote. He needed any source of distraction to suppress the urge to send a message to his estranged chat buddy. Unfortunately, patience was never instilled into Wolfram's mind. All his life he hardly had to wait for anything, and at the moment, he badly needed some answers. He racked his brain for the perfect excuse to see the four-eyed pervert and intended to demand for an apology along with an explanation.

Wolfram suddenly remembered the navy blue coat that belonged to Murata. He darted upstairs, grabbed the oversized garment, stuffed it in a paper bag and rushed out of the house. He was glad Yuuri was still with Murata and hoped they could go home together—after he gives the bespectacled boy a piece of his mind, that is.

OooooooooO

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Kyou Kara Maoh!_ or any of its characters. I do not make money from these writings.

**Beta-reader**: XEOHE

**Warnings**: yaoi (malexmale), minor coarse language, AU (Alternate Universe), and OOC (Out of Character).

**A/N**: Hi everyone! We've finally reached the end of this AU fan fiction. I wish to tender a heartfelt thanks to all those who had left their comments, put this story on alert/favorite, and served as inspiration for this work. Lastly, to my beta-reader, XEOHE: thank you so much for all your help—writing this wouldn't even be half as fun if not for your constant support.

**ALTERed EGO ****– Part Five (Final Chapter)**

**By chris'cut**

"It's good to see you again, Wolfram," Mrs. Murata warmly greeted by the front door.

The blond stood on his toes and peered over the woman's shoulder, checking for any sign of Yuuri or the bespectacled boy.

"Ken and Yuuri left just a few minutes ago to meet up with some friends," the pleasant woman said. "Oh my, were you supposed to join them? I'm afraid I didn't get to ask where they were having dinner. Do you want to come in and wait in Ken's room?"

"No. That's alright," Wolfram declined, waving his hand and swinging the small paper bag on his wrist in the process. "I can always call Yuuri on his phone. Thank you, anyway."

"I see. Well then, I should go back inside now." Mrs. Murata leaned over and added in a hushed tone, "My husband and I have arranged a private movie date tonight—in our room." The woman ended with a soft giggle.

Wolfram almost rolled his eyes at the woman whom Murata had obviously taken after.

"I wouldn't want to keep you and your husband waiting. See you, Mrs. Murata," Wolfram said.

"Take care, sweetie. Drop by again soon," the woman said before closing the door.

Wolfram reached for his phone and asked Yuuri where they were. The boy said that they were at the twenty-four-hour gyudon restaurant which Wolfram was familiar with, having gone there with Yuuri a few times before. The blond took a cab and reached the place in less than half an hour.

As soon as the automatic doors of the affordable and well-known restaurant swung open, Wolfram spotted Yuuri and Murata a few tables away from the entrance. The green eyes didn't miss the two girls with the double blacks. He recognized them immediately as they were infamous in school for blatantly showing interest in all the boys in their class, including himself.

All heads turned to the gorgeous teenager who had just entered the room—except one bespectacled boy whose attention remained fixed on the petite, curvaceous sixteen-year-old beside him. If Wolfram had noticed the deliberate cold treatment, he was not one to let on. He strode towards the group of four, grabbed the nearest vacant chair and cleared his throat as he positioned the chair between Yuuri and one of the girls. Mumbling incomprehensible words, Yuuri made space for the blond. The girls glanced at each other and giggled when Wolfram nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"Have you had dinner, Wolfram?" asked the girl who Wolfram knew was called Hikaru .

Wolfram regarded the empty bowls on the table and replied, "I'm still quite full."

"It's okay, we won't stare at you while you eat," Yuuri quietly assured him.

"I said I'm not hungry so drop it," Wolfram muttered back. He then glared at Murata who had not once glanced his way. The bespectacled boy was whispering something to his companion who suddenly burst out laughing.

"Share the joke with us, Tomoe," Hikaru prodded.

"This guy cracks me up!" The girl named Tomoe started laughing again while jerking a thumb at Murata.

"Yeah, let us in on the fun, man," Yuuri seconded Hikaru's request.

Murata turned to sit up straight and said, "It's not really funny. I told Tomoe that my mom used to have a cat with the same name. Lately, I've been missing Tomoe's soft, round figure, her warmth, the way she cuddled up, and how she enjoyed being stroked. Oh, and she had a habit of licking my fingers, and when she's in heat she raises her moist behin—"

Yuuri interrupted by clearing his throat loudly. "Ah, all right. Carry on with your private conversation; we won't ask further."

Wolfram sneered and muttered, "Pervert."

"Oh, hi, Wolfram," Murata drawled, finally acknowledging the blond's presence. "What brings you here?"

"I..." Wolfram wavered. To say that he came to confront the man and declare he wanted nothing to do with him was contradictory to his action of following them to the restaurant.

Remembering the navy-blue coat inside the paper bag, Wolfram handed the item to Murata and simply said, "This belongs to you."

After a brief peek inside the bag, Murata nodded briefly and then turned to Tomoe once more to resume their hushed flirtation

"Aren't we leaving yet?" Wolfram asked Yuuri.

"You just got here. Let's stay a while longer," answered Yuuri.

"I don't like this place—and the company," Wolfram whispered.

"So why did you follow? Let me remind you that you have no right to check up on me."

"I was doing no such thing! I got bored at home." Wolfram put a hand on Yuuri's thigh and added in a sweet voice, "Yuuri, let's go somewhere else."

Before Yuuri could brush off Wolfram's hand, Hikaru leaned over the table and asked, "Are you two going out?"

Color rushed to Yuuri's cheeks as he shook his head vehemently. "Oh God, no. No, no, no."

"It's alright, we're not one of those narrow-minded people who preach others what's right and wrong," Tomoe joined in.

"But I'm not into boys, I assure you," Yuuri said, still shaking his head vigorously. "Wolfram has been living in my house for a year. That's why we're comfortable with each other—just like siblings, and nothing more. Right, Murata?"

"I can't answer for Blondie here, but yeah, sure," Murata replied grinning, though his eyes remained expressionless as he glanced momentarily at Wolfram.

"Hey, Pervert! At least I'm upfront with my feelings unlike others who hide behind another identity to trick people," Wolfram retorted, meeting the cold stare behind the black-rimmed spectacles.

"That's true," Murata calmly said. "Although, I must say that I'm utterly surprised that discriminating people could be extremely gullible."

"Are you insinuating I'm bigoted and stupid?" the blond asked indignantly.

Shrugging his shoulders, Murata replied innocently, "I didn't say I was referring to you—and those were not my choice of words."

Wolfram spat out, "You prick! Who else could you have directed those terms to?"

Yuuri, Tomoe, and Hikaru watched the heated exchange across the table like a ping-pong match.

"Chill out, Blondie," Murata said evenly. "What are you so upset about?"

Wolfram gritted his teeth to prevent himself from grabbing the man by the collar and punching the smug face. Green eyes glowered at the black orbs behind the spectacles.

Upon noticing the clenched fist beside him, Yuuri said with a slap to his forehead, "I just remembered there's something I need to do. Come on Wolf, we have to go now."

Yuuri stood up, grabbed the blond's arm, and almost dragged him out of his chair.

"See you guys," Tomoe said with a weak smile, while Hikaru bowed her head to the two boys who were already by the entrance.

Murata slumped onto his chair and remained silent. After Yuuri said that Wolfram was on his way to meet them, Murata had anticipated that the blond was finally going cut ties with his alter ego—officially. Though they had not corresponded for a week, Murata remained hopeful that Wolfram would give him another chance, for the sake of their friendship online. Receiving his coat back confirmed that Wolfram chose to see him as just Murata Ken, the four-eyed pervert he detested.

"Are you alright?" Tomoe asked.

Grinning from ear to ear, Murata straightened in his seat and replied, "Of course. Now where were we before we got interrupted?"

OooooooooO

"It doesn't matter which college I go to," Wolfram spoke over the video phone. Yuuri then heard the high-pitched reply of the woman on the other end.

"Mother, he's not my boyfriend; we haven't even been to first base, _yet_. Besides, I'm not like you; I can live without a lover—like I have for the last sixteen years," Wolfram told his mother.

Yuuri rolled his eyes at his housemate who continued to discuss matters as if he wasn't around. For the last half hour, the blond had been talking to his mother regarding his university options. Cecilie von Spitzweg wanted to confirm her son's preference to ensure that he did not miss the entrance examination and deadline for application in the universities in Europe—if in case Wolfram decided to study there as originally planned.

"Honey, put Yuuri on the phone. I haven't seen his handsome face for some time," Yuuri heard the vivacious voice say.

"Mother wants to talk to you," Wolfram said, walking towards him from the dining room.

Yuuri took the phone and smiled at the female, older, sultry version of Wolfram on the screen.

"Hi Cecilie," Yuuri said.

"Yuuri dear, it's lovely to see you!" Cecilie exclaimed, giggling on the video phone. "I hope you and my little baby are getting along well and making wonderful memories. Let me remind you about my motto: you're only young once so seize the moment!"

From the staircase, Wolfram heard Yuuri's nervous laughter and a lame reply that followed shortly. He didn't particularly care about what his mother had to say, and so he went upstairs to his and Yuuri's room.

Wolfram sprawled on the bed and pondered on where he wanted to study. Not so long ago, he was certain he preferred to stay in Tokyo with Yuuri; however, things hadn't been so great lately—especially in school. It had been a month since he returned Murata's coat at the gyudon restaurant and since then, he hardly bumped into the bespectacled man. Even in class they avoided each others' gaze. Murata had stopped coming over, and instead, Yuuri had been the one going to his best friend's house—leaving Wolfram to mope alone most of the time. Although Wolfram appreciated the few times Yuuri accompanied him to the movies, the mall, or just the park, at night he still missed chatting with someone about other stuff Yuuri wasn't interested in.

Murata seemed to be his normal self, flirting outrageously with the girls in school, and showing no signs of missing his chat buddy, 4tun8. Wolfram knew the work of DGR81 would be completed soon and was eager to find out how it was going. However, out of spite for the author, he had purposely avoided checking on DGR81's posted chapters.

Sighing, Wolfram scrambled out of bed and turned on Yuuri's computer. He decided that there was no harm in reading DGR81's work, especially when nobody would know except himself. He quickly visited the fan fiction site and clicked on his favorite story which had been last updated two weeks ago. Skipping the author's notes, Wolfram went straight to reading the latest chapter.

Half an hour later, Wolfram was beaming by the end of the chapter which turned out exactly as he hoped it would. It was also a major cliffhanger and wondered if his insight was accurate. He clicked on the reviews and skimmed over them; he was always curious on others' comments and opinions which either mirrored or negated his own.

Wolfram furrowed his brows at one review. It said: _Hey, another great installment! I wish you luck on the next as well as your date! That person should know how fortunate he is that you even changed the turn of events to accommodate his request. Ah, well… thanks to your amazing skills, you pulled it off—though I really preferred the original draft you sent me. Truly, your friend's name suits him—4tun8 indeed!_

The blond looked at the reviewer's pen name and recognized it as one of DGR81's favorite authors, as well as friend. Curious about the underlying content of the message, Wolfram, once again, glanced over the last posted chapter. It took him a while to find what he was looking for, which happened to be at the end of a long list of author's notes.

Wolfram felt the heat rise to his cheeks as he read: _When I started this work, it was purely to give myself a satisfactory conclusion to the anime. Along the way, I've made many friends and one in particular, stands out in terms of support and source of inspiration. His smile outweighs my initial purpose, hence, this chapter was written as he envisioned it to be. 4tun8, if you're willing to accept this as an apology, meet me a fortnight from posted date. I shall wait at the same place and time where I once stood you up._

The blond looked at the date posted which was exactly fourteen days ago. It was 9:45 P.M. and the time they were supposed to meet after the movies was 9:30. Even if he left now, the earliest he could get to the coffee shop would be at 10:30.

Surprisingly, excitement rushed through his body, the same way he felt the night he was eagerly anticipating for DGR81's appearance. But it wasn't _exactly_ the same, because now he was aware of his favorite author's real identity. Instead of a bleached blond young man in his early twenties, he now pictured a black-haired boy with spectacles and a silly grin waiting for him at the coffee shop.

So why was he still so anxious to show up? The blond allowed himself to ponder on this question for only a few minutes before rushing out of the house and leaving a bewildered Yuuri with a mere, "I'll call you when I'm in a cab, Yuuri!"

OooooooooO

The coffee shop was packed with late night moviegoers. Wolfram glanced around for the familiar wavy, dark hair and spectacles. A few times he thought he had spotted Murata, but after fifteen minutes of false alarms, he decided to take the only vacant seat near the counter and keyed in the boy's number.

When Murata did not answer his phone, Wolfram grew unsettled. He suspected that Murata had just pulled another cruel joke on him. The blond was sure Yuuri would have checked with Murata by now if he knew anything of his whereabouts, as Wolfram practically had no friends other than the two of them. Wolfram could almost imagine the pervert laughing the night away while Yuuri informed him that he rushed out of the house with such haste. He began to hate himself as well because, once again, he proved that Yuuri and Murata were right—he was one gullible blond.

After one last look, Wolfram stormed out of the coffee shop. He walked to the nearest cab stop and sat on the bench, cursing his own stupidity and Murata. He couldn't even explain to himself why he got all thrilled at the thought of meeting Murata when they had steered clear of each other for a month. And to add to his vexation, it was Murata—the four-eyed cheesy pervert—who stood him up for the second time.

"Hey, watch it!" Wolfram snapped at the stranger who sat brusquely close to him, bumping his right thigh and shaking the bench from the impact.

He glared at the rude person heavily panting next to him with blond hair and a baseball cap pulled down low.

"Excuse me, but you are invading my space bubble," Wolfram reminded the boy whose thigh remained pressed to his. Wolfram didn't move; he wanted to show the stranger he wasn't easily intimidated.

"I'm so glad you're still here," said the breathless voice. "I waited at the coffee shop for an hour, then I received a phone call when I reached the train station. My phone's battery got depleted while Shibuya was still saying something about you running out of the house."

Wolfram removed the cap from the blond's head and found blue eyes staring back at him.

"Murata?" Wolfram exclaimed. "I hardly recognized you!"

Grinning, Murata replied, "I purposely showed up as DGR81, so I dyed my hair and wore contacts."

"Seriously? I mean, you do know that I'm aware DGR81 _is_ Murata Ken—you didn't have to show up as your alter ego description."

"I thought it would be fun, especially when you've always wanted to see this DGR81." Murata's wide grin turned to a soft smile as he said, "When we first started corresponding online, I didn't even know it was _the_ Wolfram von Bielefeld from school who was avidly reading my stories and enjoying chats with me. If we didn't already know each other—or maybe if you didn't hate Murata Ken so much—I would have shown up the first time and looking like this, as DGR81."

Wolfram studied Murata sideways and remarked, "Hmm…. This look on you is not tacky at all. You should wear contacts more often—or at least change your unflattering spectacles."

Murata chuckled, his eyes shining through the contact lens. "Does this mean we can be friends again? As myself?"

"You and Yuuri talk to me like I'm some stupid five-year-old." Wolfram exhaled loudly before continuing. "Of course _if_ we're going to be friends, it won't be any other way but as your real self."

"Is that a yes then?"

"I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Hey, Wolfram," Murata began in a serious tone, "I apologize for suggesting you to use me to get Shibuya jealous. I'm sorry if I manipulated your actions. I feel bad that you waited so long for me last time at the coffee shop. I regret making up stories about my nonexistent profession. I did almost everything that's wrong in order for you to spend some time with me as Murata Ken."

"I haven't really forgiven you for all those. You seriously toyed with me. I could already picture you laughing behind your monitor each time I poured out my feelings to you online," Wolfram admitted. "But what I was most disappointed with was that DGR81 made me feel good about myself regardless of how silly or trivial my interests are, but in the end, you made me feel so dumb and clueless."

"I'll do your homework for the rest of the year if you'll forgive me," Murata said.

Ignoring the jest, Wolfram asked, "How much of DGR81 is real?"

Murata, who perfectly understood what the blond was asking, replied, "Except for being a math professor, DGR81's is a hundred percent genuine. However, let me proudly warn you that Murata Ken's libido is innate and authentic as well."

For the first time as Murata Ken, he made Wolfram von Bielefeld laugh, a soft laughter filled with delight.

"We're going to have a problem with your cheekiness. Only Yuuri has the privilege of being forward, even though he doesn't seem interested at all."

"Ah, but you'll be surprised at how detached the mind is from the body," Murata commented with an impish grin.

Wolfram raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "I have no clue about your organs but mine are all in sync."

"It seems you haven't noticed," Murata said, motioning his eyes to their pressed thighs and then to the arm around Wolfram's shoulder. "We've been like this for some time now."

Wolfram had no idea when Murata's arm had landed behind him, but apparently it just did.

"You're lucky my reflexes aren't functioning properly tonight; but I doubt there will a next time," Wolfram said moving away from the bleached blond.

"Do you want to go inside and grab a bite?" Murata asked out of the blue. "My treat."

Instead of giving an answer, Wolfram stood up and held out his hand to Murata. "I came here for two things: first to accept your apology; and second, to tender mine as well. Please forgive me for being mean and inconsiderate to Murata Ken."

Shaking the hand offered, Murata asked, "What changed your mind?"

"I missed talking to my favorite chat buddy and fan fiction author," Wolfram replied, as they headed back to the coffee shop.

OooooooooO

"Mother, I have made a decision."

Yuuri roused at the sound of Wolfram's voice. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked as his wrist watch which said two o'clock.

"I want to study at the University of Tokyo."

Yuuri nearly fell off the sofa at the blond's choice—he was almost positive that no amount of money could get Wolfram accepted in such a university.

"Or somewhere near it then," Wolfram impatiently said after another brief pause. "Mother, I just called to let you know. I'm going to sleep now. I love you. Bye."

Yuuri sat up on the couch and found the blond halfway up the staircase. Wolfram suddenly looked his direction and grinned. "Hi Yuuri. Sorry I got home so late. Come on up, you can stop worrying about me."

"Is everything alright between you and Murata?" Yuuri asked groggily as he walked behind Wolfram.

Wolfram nodded and said, "Yes. As a matter of fact, I need to borrow your computer for a while and check if he got back home safely."

"Just send him a text message or call him," Yuuri suggested.

"His battery's dead, and besides, how can you sleep if I'm talking?"

"Ah right," Yuuri said, dropping to his futon. Yawning loudly, he added, "Goodnight, Wolf."

"Goodnight, Yuuri," Wolfram replied, changing into his boxer shorts. "Aren't you glad we still get to be housemates for the next four years?"

Yuuri turned his back on the naked boy and pretended to have dozed off. He didn't know whether he should agree with the blond or not. Warning lights flashed in his dazed mind, reminding him that Wolfram was just too darn innocent and attractive for any roommate of his to remain straight for long.

OooooooooO

DGR81: Hi!

4tun8: Hey! Did you just get home?

DGR81: Yup. Is Shibuya asleep?

4tun8: Yes and snoring too, heheh. Listen, I told my mother about going to the University of Tokyo. Are you sure you will be able to help me pass the entrance exams?

DGR81: I'll do my best to teach you, but that involves grueling hours. You sure you want to do that?

4tun8: Only if we take lots of breaks in between; my mind can only take so much at a time.

DGR81: What I want to know is if you really wouldn't mind hanging out with me for long hours.

4tun8: Duhhh! We just spent two hours at the coffee shop, didn't we? Besides, I only want to go to that university because that's where you're going. Don't ask me things that are obvious.

DGR81: Okay, deal.

4tun8: Hey, Murata...

DGR81: Hmm?

4tun8: Would you like to a watch a movie next weekend?

DGR81: With you and Shibuya?

4tun8: Dunno... I haven't asked him yet.

DGR81: Then don't ask him. Let's make it a last minute thing so he won't feel left out when he finds out.

4tun8: What if I want him to come along?

DGR81: That's your prerogative. But let me remind you that if you do, we cannot discuss the things we did at the coffee shop.

4tun8: What things?

4tun8: Ah! You mean the explicit, adult parts in yaoi fics?

4tun8: I see, I'll think about it then.

DGR81: Hey, I have to go. It's almost three o'clock, time for you to sleep.

4tun8: I'm not sleepy yet; let's talk a while longer. Why do you have to go?

DGR81: I think I had too much coffee earlier.

4tun8: Ah, I see. Eeew... do your business then come back.

Shortly, Wolfram saw '_stepped out_' beside DGR81's username. He then changed his status to _'be right back'_ and went to the bathroom himself. He looked at the mirror and found a blond-haired boy with sparkling green eyes and a huge grin on his face while brushing his teeth.

Life was absolutely perfect, he thought.

OooooooooO

The End.


End file.
